Estate Purbach

Purbach

It really is a wonderful place to create in, that Max Stiegl (who studied with Schuhbeck in Munich and became at the “Inamera” the world’s youngest recipient of a Michelin star) selected and fixed up for himself. The impeccable inner courtyard, glowing with Mediterranean flair, the estate building itself with its massive walls, its old wine cellar (filled to bursting with anything wine lovers might dream of): Austria is well represented on its shelves, as is Stiegl’s homeland of Slovenia, and countless pinot noirs from South Tyrol, together with truckloads from Bordeaux. The pleasant surprise is how modest the prices for such treasures are calculated here. For that reason alone, the thought of the individually designed and appointed guest apartments available for one and all, is a comforting relief. The kitchen composes along local-plus-Mediterranean guidelines, and the results are highly creative. A particular focal point is on giblet specialties, lights and pluck, as well as other rarities seldom cooked nowadays. The ingredients are often equally surprising, e.g. saffron from the Burgenland. You can even order such rare gems as lamb tripe, fish soup with bacon from mangaliza pigs, sautéed goat kid livers, or a classic onion beef schnitzel, in this case from noble Galloway beef.